Film

high angle shot

the camera is looking down on an actor from a high vantage. High angle shots might emphasize that characters are being overwhelmed by their circumstances.

Art director

the individual responsible for supervising the conception and construction of the physical environment in which the actors appear, including sets, locations, props, and costumes.

auteur

the prime author of a film, usually the director. The auteur has artistic responsibility for a film and reveals a personal worldview through the work.

backlighting

a highlighting technique that illuminates the person or object from behind, tending to silhouette the subject, sometimes called edgelighting.

Best boy

assistant(s) to their department heads, the gaffer and grip.

Boom

a long pole used to hold a microphone above the actors to capture sound while remaining outside the frame, handled by a boom operator.

close-up

one can see only the actor's face

composition

the aesthetic arrangement of all the graphic elements within the space of the screen (within the frame).

Continuity editing

Hollywood editing that uses cuts and other transitions to establish verisimilitude, to construct a coherent time and space, and to tell stories clearly and efficiently. Continuity editing follows the basic principle that each shot or scene has a continuous relationship to the next; sometimes called invisible editing.

crane shot

A shot taken from a crane. You often see these shots at the beginning of a scene (using it as an establishing shot) or the end of a scene. Often used at the end of a movie.

deep focus

refers to a shot in which everything, including the background, is in focus.

Diegesis

a term that refers to the world of the film's story (its characters, places, events), including not only what is shown but also what is implied to have taken place. It comes from the Greek word meaning "Narration."

Diegetic sound

Sound that has its source in the narrative world of the film, whose characters are presumed to be able to hear it.

Director

the chief creative presence or the primary manager in film production, responsible for overseeing virtually all the work of making a movie.

dissolve

when one shot "bleeds" into another. In other words, the end of the first shot is still visible as the second shot becomes visible. Dissolves are often (but not always) used to show a smaller amount of time passing than a fade in or fade out.

Dolly

equipment designed to create smooth camera movements. Cameras are often mounted on dollies or track dollies.

establishing shot

an initial long shot that establishes the location and setting and that orients the viewer in space.

extreme close-up

you can only see part of the actor's face (just the eyes, for example).

Fade-in, fade-out

Going from black (nothing on the screen) to a shot (fade in), or going from a shot to black (fade out). These transitions usually (but not always) connote a larger amount of time passing or might also be used to signal a break in the narrative (the end of an act, for instance).

frame

single frame of a shot : some publicity stills are blowups of frames.

frontal lighting

generally softens a face, flattening the features and hiding facial marks.

Gaffer

the chief electrician in a motion-picture or television production unit.

Grip

a crew member who installs lighting and dollies.

handheld shot

refers to a shot where the camera operator holds the camera. Handheld shots are often associated with a certain look, which is shaky, a kind of documentary realism.

High-key lighting

the scene is flooded w/ bright illumination, giving a cheerful, buoyant tone.

Iris-in, iris-out

a small circle around a certain part of the shot, with everything else blacked out (the iris-in), or the reverse occurs (the iris-out).

key lighting

The main light used for a scene

LIGHTING

Sources of illumination—both natural light and electrical lamps—used to present, shade, and accentuate figures, objects, and spaces in the mise-en-scène. Lighting is primarily the responsibility of the director of photography and the lighting crew.

long shot

one can see the entire body of the actor

low angle shot

a camera is placed very low to the ground and looks "up" at actors; low angle shots might emphasize that characters are somehow larger than life.

Low-key lighting

at a very low setting, this low level of lighting creates dark shadows on the faces of actors and is melancholy or ominous in mood.

medium shot

one can see the actor from the waist up

Mise-en-scène

refers to everything in the frame of the film, which would include lighting, set, props, and the staging and movement of actors.

montage

the editing that happens after shooting giving the movie its style.

natural lighting

light derived from a natural source in a scene or setting, such as the illumination of the sun or firelight.

Nondiegetic sound

sound such as a musical score that does not have an identifiable source in the characters' world.

pan

the movement of a stationary camera on a horizontal axis. A camera on a tripod that moves from left to right (following a parade, for instance), would be panning.

parallel editing

an editing technique that alternates between two or more strands of action in separate locations, often presented as occurring simultaneously.

POV shot

stands for "Point-of-View" shot: we are looking through the eyes of a character; you have probably seen a POV shot when a character who has been rendered unconscious is waking

Producer

the person or persons responsible for steering and monitoring each step of a film project, especially the financial aspects, from development to postproduction and a distribution deal.

rack focus

Shifting the focus from one object to another within a single shot. Sometimes, directors will use a rack focus when two characters are on screen at once but are positioned at different distances from the camera.

reaction shot

a shot that cuts away from the main scene or speaker in order to show a character's reaction to it. ( sometimes called cutaway)

scene

a series of shots that form a cohesive unit of narrative.

Screenwriter

a writer of a film's screenplay; the screenwriter may begin with a treatment and develop the plot structure and dialogue over the span of several versions; also called a scriptwriter

Second Unit

crew that is responsible for shooting supplementary footage; this includes establishing shots, stunts, inserts, and cutaways. This crew is separate from the first unit, which is the team that films scenes with the leading cast.

shallow/soft focus

refers to how much of the shot is in focus. With shallow or soft focus, generally we can only see the actor's face in focus. The background appears blurry.

shot

generally, the smallest unit of unbroken film. The camera can move within a shot, but the second that the film makes a transition (see below) to another shot, the previous shot has ended.

side lighting (fill)

refers to a light placed to the side of the actors—adds solidity and depth, accentuating features that give a face its character.

soundtrack

everything we hear: sound effects/dialogue/music.

take (and short v. long take)

generally, a take refers to the time a shot is begun to the time it stops.

tilt

the movement of a stationary camera on a vertical axis. A camera on a tripod that moves up and down (following a plane landing, for instance), would be performing a tilt.

tracking shot (Dolly shot)

the movement of the shot when the camera is no longer stationary. The term refers to the tracks that cameras were once rolled on—a steadicam shot

TRANSITIONS

refers to the way a shot moves from one to the next. Films use several different kinds of transitions, including:cut simply splicing one shot to the next. The most common kind of transitions, cuts are used extensively in editing.

Verisimilitude

the quality of fictional representation that allows readers or viewers to accept a constructed world, its events, its characters, and their actions as plausible; literally "having the appearance of truth."

voiceover

a voice whose source is neither visible in the frame nor implied to be off-screen; it typically narrates the film's images, such as in a flashback or the commentary in a documentary film.

wipe

one shot "wipes" across the screen and replaces another. You do not see wipes used overly often in contemporary films, although the Star Wars films use wipes often.

Zoom-in, zoom-out

using certain lenses, the camera can move more closely into a subject (the zoom-in) or pull back (the zoom-out). The zoom-in is sometimes called a push-in, and the zoom-out is sometimes called the pullback.